Charmonium
Lifer
- May 15, 2015
- 10,555
- 3,546
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Well, you seem to be caught on the horns of a dilemma don't you. On the one hand you're arguing that viruses can't survive on surfaces as your rationale for trying to counter the self-inoculation argument. But yet you seem to need them to survive to make the point about contaminated surfaces.I wasn't saying anything about your self-inoculation assertion.
We aren't talking about "many viruses that can last hours of not day on ... surfaces," we are talking about the most common respiratory viruses that typically spread through sneezing: cold and flu (rhinovirus and influenza). When they last for days it's... you guessed it! In a warm moist environment (typically a blob on mucous or saliva).
It's a well known fact that cold and flu viruses do not survive long after the droplets dry. I'm not making that up. You sneeze onto your elbow and clothing and far fewer of those "millions and billions" get transferred by your hands to other surfaces other people are likely to touch. That's the key point. You greatly increase the chance that it will dry up and die uneventfully if you sneeze into your elbow or shirt or the ground than in your hands. Cold and flu viruses are counting on that behavior to spread it.
You're welcome.
I'm afraid you're going to need to pick a lane dude.
